Treasury systems becoming increasingly available on the cloud

The latest trend being implemented by treasury departments is Software as a Service (SaaS), more widely known as cloud computing. Companies are moving their treasury systems to the cloud because it provides a secure and cost-effective alternative to packaged applications and traditional software.

This week, Indus Valley Partners (IVP), a leading provider of alternative asset management solutions, announced that their new system, IVP Treasury 3.5 will be available on the cloud. This treasury solution optimises financing needs across counterparties including prime brokers (PBs) and custodian banks, and also allows managers to track and control their cash flow.

Cloud computing enables hedge fund companies to work effectively with PBs and focus on important relationships. Bijesh Amin, co-founder and managing director at Indus Valley Partners, said that “Hedge funds are moving from a Multi-Prime model of 6-8 PBs to an Opti-Prime model of 2-3 key PB relationships.”

IVP’s move to a SaaS treasury system “is in response to Prime Brokers scrutinizing their hedge funds clients and in some cases asking funds to move their business away if they are not sufficiently profitable. By using our Treasury solution hedge funds can better understand their economics to their Prime Brokers and optimize/allocate funding accordingly,” said Amin.

IVP’s ability to manage their own infrastructure means that their customised treasury system provides them with access to greater computing power, memory and storage. In order to connect with banks and execute hundreds or thousands of payments, a tailor-made system, such as the one implemented by IVP, results in data being replicated in real-time. This data redundancy means that each packet of data gets mirrored to a datacentre in a separate location and if needed, allows managers to keep information safe from potential threats.

According to Treasury & Risk, Hugh Russell, the Regional Sales Director, North America of BELLIN Treasury Services Ltd., explains the importance of considering the location of the datacentre for the customised SaaS system. “If you’re a treasurer in Switzerland, you probably don’t want your data going into a system hosted all or in part in the US, and subject to the PATRIOT Act.”

Russell talks about the future of treasury management and how companies should start thinking about “treasury as something that exists across the corporate group, not just a department in the back office at HQ.” This is what IVP are doing with the introduction of IVP Treasury 3.5, and according to Russell, cloud technology can become “the glue that binds your entire corporate finance department.”